watercolor

I painted these blossoms as a gift for a dear friend on her wedding day. I’ll post a step by step tutorial soon of my process. The main colors I used were Holbein Quinacridone Violet and Holbein Opera Pink. I also used Burnt Umber, and hints of green using a mixture of indigo and aureolin yellow.The first wash was made with a wet-in wet technique. Once the paper dried, I started painting the flowers and forming shapes using a ‘negative space’ technique. I’ll explain more in my tutorial coming up soon!

After our dog, Brandee, died I thought I’d paint her portrait someday. It’s difficult to paint her happy furry face without tears. So instead I’ll paint the deep blues and blacks of the night sky speckled with stars of unknown distances.

On that day we meet again,
We will look to the stars with wonder
Oh, how our light shines on

Creating art is a basic need for me. Sometimes I forget to eat when I’m painting. When I get an idea for a painting, it hits me like a waterfall. Thoughts and ideas roll and cascade over one another, and it doesn’t matter where I am. I’m driving usually, or on my way to work at the hospital, or taking a shower and have a sudden urge to grab a pencil and sketch out my thoughts. (I’ve never had a car accident, 🙂

A few years ago, I picked up a set of watercolors and started painting. I haven’t used watercolors since I was a kid making refrigerator art with the old cake pan sets. I had been painting with oils and acrylics most of my life, and watercolors allowed me to loosen up my style. I started painting animals since I figured I knew them best. I can draw just about anything, but I wanted to capture the souls of animals in watercolor. I have this grand plan that someday I will sell a ton of my paintings and donate the money to endangered animals, sanctuaries, and service dogs for children and people in need. Selling on etsy has helped me get closer to this plan of mine 🙂

So, I will keep on keepin’ on with my watercolors. And to every artist who suffers from this ‘lightning bolt’ syndrome compelled with a sudden need to paint, please drive safely, remember to eat, and carry a sketchbook.

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About Me

Hello! Thanks for visiting my little watercolor blog :-)
I started this watercolor journey several years ago. While I've been painting and drawing for most of my life, my passion to turn my art into something to share with the world really began recently. It started with a few watercolor poppies, a few portraits for family, and then my friends started having babies. A good friend of mine was having a baby girl and was decorating an elephant themed nursery. She loved the emotion and spontaneous nature of watercolor and asked me to paint a purple elephant. That's when my little watercolor animals were conceived :-)
Since then, I've added all sorts of watercolor animals and began selling paintings and prints on Etsy.
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I truly love painting. It is where my heart goes to find happiness and my mind follows.
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My latest and most exciting venture yet is working with Hallmark!!! Cards will be out this spring, and I am so stoked!